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I only discovered her (I prefer to call her a her) because at about 6:15 tonight I noticed what was probably her mom eating our damn hostas in our so-called fenced back yard. I went outside to escort** the large deer out and then walked around the edge of the back yard looking for any weakness in the fence. That's when I found Miss Adorable above. She's next to my little pond, up near that so-called fence.
Doug and I tried to carry out a somewhat elaborate plan to get her safely outside our yard and succeeded only in that she wobbled her way into the front yard by way of the carport. Poor little thing. I was determined to get her safely out of our back yard because it's filled with what many people call deer candy. Some people might say that we should just get rid of the deer candy and live with plants the deer won't eat. I do that in the front and side yards, but it's nice to have a lush back yard, so I was determined to move the babe just to keep the mom from coming back in (I still don't know how she got in).
Miss Adorable was last seen in our front yard, backed up into some tall lemon balm. I'm confident her mom will find her. A similar birth occurred a few years ago and I think I learned from that experience not to worry. These deer are survivors.
The bottom picture was taken a few hours before Miss A arrived. The pond is on the right a bit to the left of the bench. Her mom found what she thought was a good place to hide her baby.
Well, that was exciting! Now I need coffee and a piece of cake.
**This means closing in on the deer until she's forced to either jump over the fencing (easy enough -- it's only 5-6 feet high) or crash through it, ripping out portions in the process. Most deer do a combination thing. The fencing is that 7-foot tall, heavy plastic mesh sold in Home Depot. It's not perfect but if I'm diligent about checking for rips and tears I can usually keep the deer out until late in the summer. Eventually, however, they always win.
5 comments:
What a sweetheart! I know that deer are annoying(we have LOTS of them around here), but I still love seeing them and their babies. :)
What a lovely backyard and a cute baby. Do people hunt where you live?
Absolutely beautiful!
Yes Shannon, deer are hunted nearby but not near enough. Our house is next to a 90-some acre park -- with no hunting allowed -- which is why we have so many herds of deer. I love them but they are in serious conflict with humans; car accidents are quite common and it's not always the deer who dies. I'm not sure there's a solution to the conflict. Too many of them, too many of us, and a lot of resistance to hunting. I couldn't shoot one, but I have no objection to others doing so, as long as they eat the meat. We could feed a lot of high-quality protein to a lot of people if "deer hunting" didn't sound like "child molestation." Just think of all the nasty cattle feed lots we could eliminate.
Many people like to hunt over here and ODFW seems generous about issuing deer tags to residents. I could butcher one, but would feel sad about shooting one--even though I am confident in my shooting abilities. One got caught in our garden a couple of years ago and my cousin came and shot it/butchered it. The meat is tasty and lean.
I can understand that city-people would frown on shooting wildlife but sometimes they can be such pests. The meat is also much better than that which can be bought in a supermarket.
About the car-wildlife conflicts out here:
It happens a lot. I have avoided hitting things because I am vigilant about searching for pedestrians (no sidewalks or shoulders on the road). My dad, on the other hand, has hit several deer but he is the type of driver who "zones out" on his commute. On an unrelated note, one of my friends had her car totaled by a territorial bovine--she had stopped on the road to wait for him to cross and he faced her off..
Miscreant bull. lol.
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